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Report: Simon may drop General Growth bid

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Shares in General Growth Properties Inc., the second-biggest U.S. mall owner, fell as much as 6.7 percent in New York trading Monday morning after a newsletter report that Simon Property Group Inc. may abandon a takeover bid for its smaller rival.

Indianapolis-based Simon is unlikely to move ahead with its buyout offer because of antitrust concerns, the REIT Newshound reported Sunday night, citing sources it didn’t identify. Simon has concluded that an attorney for Chicago-based General Growth who handles antitrust issues wasn’t dealing in “good faith,” the newsletter said, citing one of the sources.

Simon spokesman Les Morris and General Growth spokesman David Keating didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

General Growth fell 4.1 percent to $16.05 as of 11:49 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, and sank to as low as $15.61 earlier MOnday. The shares have jumped 71 percent since Feb. 15, the day before Simon made public a $10 billion offer to buy the company out of bankruptcy. General Growth dismissed the bid as too low and instead plans to exit bankruptcy with financing from a group led by Brookfield Asset Management Inc.

“GGP shares were priced based on some sort of topping from Simon,” said Benjamin Yang, an analyst with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in San Francisco. “Based on this news, it seems less likely that Simon will come back with an offer higher than the $15-a-share proposal from Brookfield.”

General Growth filed the biggest real estate bankruptcy in U.S. history almost a year ago after amassing $27 billion in debt making acquisitions. Simon’s bid would have given equity investors about $9 a share and paid unsecured creditors in full.

Simon has been preparing a new offer for General Growth, a person with knowledge of the plan told Bloomberg News last month.


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  1. something to take iman's mind off CART,,,the league itsownself doesn't do it

  2. Someone mentioned a green roof. Every designer of a new urban building should be required to at least explore the feasibility of a green roof. The ability to cut carbon dioxide, save precious rainwater (drought this summer??) and re-use grey water, cool the building cheaper, and improve the view for neighbors, should be, not only the good neighbor thing to do, it should be the responsible neighbor thing to do. Too bad the city didn't require it when they gave up downtown green space for the Simon Building. Surprised they aren't requiring it now.

  3. About the same means down, like the TV ratings.

    My favorite tradition that needs to be brought back is the 25/8 rule.

  4. Your stats are incorrect. The 85k Government employees working in Marion County includes all government workers in Marion county. That is state, federal, non profit agencies, city and county. The stats the article list is the number of employees for all of the city/county employees and it is correct. That number includes the library, airport, convention center, and so on. The policy of extending benefits to domestic partners is consistent with private sector companies of the same size. Isn't the mantra of most conservatives "run the government like a business."

    Also, too say the "fiscal proposil is huge" without considering the actuarial factors involved is a bit of an overstatement. We really don't know if it is huge or not. If all of the people added to the plan are healthy and don't have claims then it could bring cost done or hold them neutral.

  5. There are 85,346 government employees in Marion county according to Stats Indiana.

    My understanding is that this proposal covers not only same sex partners and children, but opposite same sex partners who are not married and any kids.

    It also covers all city and county employees, plus municipal corporations which use city/county benefits packages including Health and Hospital Corporation (Wishard), Indianapolis Airport Authority, Indianapolis Convention Center,Lucas Oil,Bankers Life, Indianapolis Marion County Library, and Indianapolis Public Transportation Corporation (IndyGo).

    Certainly Indianapolis Public Schools will also want more benefits also.

    The fiscal cost on this proposal is huge.

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